Improved efficacy of fluoxetine in increasing hippocampal 5-hydroxytryptamine outflow in 5-HT(1B) receptor knock-out mice.

To test for the contribution of the 5-HT(1B) receptor subtype in mediating the effects of fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), we used intracerebral in vivo microdialysis in awake, freely moving 5-HT(1B) receptor knock-out mice. We show that a single systemic administration of fluoxetine (1, 5 or 10 mg/kg, i.p.) increased extracellular serotonin levels [5-HT](ext) in the ventral hippocampus and frontal cortex of wild-type and mutant mice. However, in the ventral hippocampus, fluoxetine, at the three doses studied, induced a larger increase in [5-HT](ext) in knock-out than in wild-type mice. In the frontal cortex, the effect of fluoxetine did not differ between the two genotypes. The region-dependent response to fluoxetine described here in mutants confirms data we recently reported for another SSRI, paroxetine. These data suggest that 5-HT(1B) autoreceptors limit the effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors on dialysate 5-HT levels at serotonergic nerve terminals located mainly in the ventral hippocampus. Alternative mechanisms, e.g., changes in 5-HT transporter and/or 5-HT(1A) receptor density in 5-HT(1B) receptor knock-out mice could also explain these findings.